AbeBooks' 10 Most Expensive Sales in 2012
ABE's top 25 sales from 2012 illustrate the broad nature of rare books. There are modern first editions of iconic books, significant religious and theological works,and pioneering books of science and discovery. Our most expensive sale was a copy of Johann Bayer’s 1603 celestial atlas with 48 lavishly illustrated tables portraying the constellations identified by the Greeks and a 49th table showing 12 newly discovered constellations – it sold for $47,729. This was the first star atlas to cover the entire celestial sphere, and introduced a new system of star designation known as the ‘Bayer Designation.’
The second spot is occupied by one of the most successful media franchises in history, James Bond. When Ian Fleming first put pen to paper and wrote Casino Royale in 1953, there was no way he could have imagined the enduring popularity of 007. This inscribed first edition of Casino Royale sold for more than $46,000 and would grace any rare book collection.
In third place is Franz Kafka’s novel Die Verwandlung (aka The Metamorphosis), which sold for $30,000.The original German edition is highly sought after because of Kafka’s ability to deliver unexpected impact at the end of his sentences. This effect has been difficult for English translators to replicate so the original German script is essential for Kafka collectors.
In addition to the top 25 overall sales, you can also discover the most expensive sales in various categories including children's literature, art, science, poetry, and others.
1. Uranometria, Omnium Asterismorum Continens Schemata, Nova Methodo Delineata, Sereis Laminis Expressa by Johann Bayer - $47,729
A rare piece of astronomical history from 1603 – a first edition of the most famous celestial atlas of all with 48 lavishly illustrated tables portraying the constellations identified by the Greeks and a 49th table showing 12 newly discovered constellations. The book has the coat of arms of a Venetian family on both covers and a monastery stamp on its title page. The title translates as ‘Uranometria, containing charts of all the constellations, drawn by a new method and engraved on copper plates’ and ‘Uranometria’ comes from Urania, the muse of the heavens.
2. Casino Royale by Ian Fleming - $46,453
A signed first edition of the 1953 Jonathan Cape publication of Casino Royale, the first James Bond novel; this copy has also been inscribed by Fleming "To/ _____ ______/Something for the/flight/from the author".
3. Die Verwandlung by Franz Kafka - $30,000
A first edition, published 1915 by Kurt Wolff. This famous novella contains 73 pages plus five additional pages of advertisements at the rear.
4. A Latin bible from 1491 - $26,200
A copy of a ‘Poor Man’s Bible’ (so-called because of its smaller size) printed by Johann Froben in Basel. It was the first bible to be printed in an octavo format, making it easier to transport and more affordable to a common church-goer. Until the publication of Froben’s edition, bibles were massive, iconic objects
5. Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak - $25,000
Published in 1963, this first edition came with its first state dust jacket in fine condition. Sendak had signed the title page under his printed name.
6. Little Women by Louisa May Alcott - $25,000
A true first edition, in two volumes, from 1868. The book is accompanied by a small slip of paper signed by Alcott.
7. A Polyglot bible from 1599-1602 edited by Elisa Hutter - $25,000
A folio bible in six volumes bound in blind-stamped tooled leather. This is the first multi-language bible in which English is one of the languages. Western and Eastern European languages are placed in columns parallel to the classical Hebrew, Greek and Latin. This book is often referred to as the ‘Nuremberg Polyglot’ or ‘Hutter-Polyglot’. Hutter was a professor of Hebrew in Leipzig.
8. Livre d’Heures (book of hours) - $24,680
A book of hours in Latin and French once owned by Etienne de Poncher, archbishop of Tours, in central France, from 1551-1552. The book, printed on parchment, has a velvet cover on wooden boards with two brass clasps from the 16th century. A book of hours is a devotional book, usually an illuminated manuscript, that contains prayers, hymns and psalms. This one featured many images of animals.
9. Cosmographia by Petrus Apianus - $23,681
Printed in Paris, this is a pioneering book on astronomy and geography from 1551. It features a large folding woodcut map and many diagrams defining weather, climate and the continents. A hugely influential book, it was widely translated in later years.
10. Les Ruines de les Splus Beaux Monuments de la Grece by Julien David Le Roy - $23,530
A second edition of ‘Ruins of the Most Beautiful Monuments of Greece’, two volumes bound together as a single large folio. Roy, a French architect and archaeologist, rushed this book into print in 1758 in order to beat his British rivals, James Stuart and Nicholas Revett.
11. A Latin psalter - $23,446
A psalter is a book containing the Book of Psalms and usually other devotional material. This undated psalter is a well preserved Latin manuscript, printed on parchment, containing antiphones (responses to psalms) and songs. It has a Gothic blind tooled binding with fillet embossing, diamond shaped fields with depiction of rosettes and an eagle, and a brass clasp decorated with letters.
12. Mystere de la Vengeance de Notre Seigneur by Eustache Mercade - $20,000
Published in 1491 in Paris by Antoine Verard, this first edition lacks 16 leaves, but only one complete copy is known to exist, in the Bibliotheque Nationale in Paris. The sale also included a letter by French bibliographer Amedee Boinet, who confirms the exceptional rarity of this book.
13. Voyage de La Pérouse autour du Monde by Jean-François de Galaup - $19,539
Published in 1798 by Plassan, this second edition set contains four octavo volumes and one atlas folio. They detail the journeys of explorer Jean-François de Galaup who was appointed by Louis XVI to lead an expedition around the world; and more specifically to complete and correct the Pacific maps of James Cook.
14. A 13th century Latin bible – $19,314
Written on vellum and produced in Paris around 1250. A beautiful handwritten manuscript with decorations in the margins and initials in red and blue. Rebound with 16th century leather with one remaining clasp
15. The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway - $18,500
Published in 1952, this first edition was inscribed by the author "with very best wishes, Ernest Hemingway, Keywest/1958."
16. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee - $18,000
A first edition with original first state dust jacket with a Truman Capote quote in green.
17. Divina Commedia by Dante Alighieri - $16,500
A 1506 copy of Dante’s Divine Comedy - a rare counterfeit of a 1502 edition.
18. The Pyramids of Gizeh by John Shae Perring - $16,263
Three parts in one volume, published in 1839-1842. A large folio edition with 59 plates featuring sketches by J.E. Andrews. A key book on Egyptian archaeology written by a gifted explorer, topographer and draftsman.
19. The Call of the Wild by Jack London - $15,000
A first edition, first printing, signed by Jack London on a check pasted to the endpaper.
20. An illustrated bible from 1650 - $15,000
This 17th century bible produced by Nicolaum Johannis Piscatorem and featuring 480 copperplate engravings.
21. The Day of the Triffids by John Wyndham - $14,500
First impression of the first British edition published in 1951 and inscribed ‘Yours, John Wyndham / (John Benyon Harris) 22-8-51.’ Presented in a custom clamshell case designed by binder James Tapley.
f Orchids 22. Theatrum Fungorum by Franciscus van Sterbeeck - $13,916
A fine first edition of this 1675 study of mushrooms. The book depicts 349 varieties and was written in Dutch.
23. Lindenia Iconography of Orchids by P. de Pannemaeker, G. Severeyns, and J.Goffart - $13,342
A complete set of the first English edition from 1891-1897. Bound in six folio volumes, with plates chromolithographed by P. de Pannemaeker, G. Severeyns, and J. Goffart.
24. Atlas geográfico, estadístico e histórico de la República Mexicana by A. García y Cubas - $13,000
The first edition of the first great scientific atlas of Mexico, published in 1858 as a grand folio.
25. The Satanic Verses by Salman Rushdie - $12,912
One of 12 signed and numbered leather-bound copies of Rushdie’s novel. Issued by Viking in 1988, this edition is printed on vellum, bound in goatskin and comes with a custom-made folding case.